Monday, September 20, 2010

The beginnings of fall

We closed out August with the arrival of our first egg from the hens, and with Cory finishing his fancy chicken coop just in time. We then crossed the 1 year mark of closing on this place and I wrote out a list of all we've gotten done in one year. Looking at it on paper, it was easy to see we've come a long way and made huge strides in shaping the grounds, house, and plans we have- it was a rewarding exercise since it's easy to concentrate on all that's left to do.

Sam decided to become a Christian. I prayed with him the morning of September 1st. There aren't really words to say more about that. Cory will baptize him.

Around here, we have been working on cleaning up the grounds and taking care of some essentials. We had gravel delivered for our mudslide of a driveway right before Hurricane Earl was scheduled to arrive and got a pick up truck load of the wood chips the electric company left on the land loaded up and spread between the front flower beds. Hopefully this will reduce the amount of mud that we drag in each time we enter the house. Never name a room "mudroom," by the way- you are prophesying over it. I also called a scrap metal crew, who came and literally filled a pull-behind full size trailer with metal from all around the grounds.

My brother Mike came up for a visit last week and we had a great time showing him the area. Saturday we picked up some steamed crabs and ate them outside on a makeshift table of sawhorses and siding. We then all geared up and did some clearing. Mike dropped three large trees for me with his whopping chainsaw and then we cleared out a lot of saplings before grilling out burgers. We got the firepit going just as dark arrived and had s'mores- all in all a productive and fun day. Sunday Cory and I drug out a lot of the saplings and piled them up, then loaded up a truck bed full of shingles the previous owner left on the ground to rot. We are slowly but surely cleaning the place up.

That's the update: one full year and lots of plans for next year. Cory's vacation is coming up so we will be constructing some type of winter shelter for the cows during that week. They have already had to switch to hay because the grass is no longer sufficient.